Message from Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Stamler | 4/9/21
April is National Donate Life Month, a time to spread awareness about organ and tissue donation.
Did you know there are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving transplant? (source: unos.org) Nearly 4,000 of them are in New Jersey, and seven of those people are right here in Scotch Plains. (source: savenjlives.com)
Kidneys are the organs that are most needed, but the heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, and intestines can also be donated. While organ donation saves lives, tissue donation enhances lives. Some examples of tissue donation are corneas, skin, heart valves, ligaments, tendons, and bones. While the number of donors and transplant rises each year, there is still much work to do.
Most major religions support organ donation. There are no medical conditions that preclude donation. Age doesn’t even matter. I know a woman who donated a kidney to a complete stranger at 74 years old! In fact, there were more than 5,700 living donor transplants in 2020. Hopefully even more lives will be saved this year.
Advocating for organ donation is a personal cause for me. My father, aunt, and brother have been recipients of hearts, while my other brother who passed in 2009 was a tissue donor who enhanced the lives of over thirty people. Today, my brother is waiting for the call that a kidney is available to save his life.
As a board member of the New Jersey Sharing Network and Hearts for Emma, I encourage you to register as an organ donor and educate yourself. There are so many ways to get involved: become a volunteer, attend a fundraiser, participate in the 5k in New Providence in September, or simply share a post on social media. You can visit these links for more information and learn how to get involved all year:
